Hi I am having some problems installing this software. I am up to the point now where the system restarts to boot for the first time.

I am faced with a prompt to enter a video mode - no matter which I enter I end up with a screen of fuzzy lines. I have even tried several different monitors - nothing seems to work.

I have read elsewhere that this is because the video settings are not right in XF86Config. I can CTRL ALT F1 to get to a prompt to change the xf86config file but... I know very little about vi - and when I try to open the file it says that it is read only. So how can I change the permissions on the file and then edit it accordingly? newbie questions - sorry.

all help very much appreciated.

I always use mode 0 (25x80) just to be conservative, but you can fix that permanently by editting /etc/lilo.conf and changing the line at the very beginning that says vga=791 to say vga=normal instead, and then running lilo to update the boot params.

Your real problem is that you need to be root to edit these files. If you're in the X display, first do Ctl-Alt-F1 to switch to a different virtual console, login as root, and edit the files. You can also use nano to edit rather than vi since it's a much simpler editor with a more helpful interface.

BTW - This information is all prvided in the directions and numerous walk throughs that people have done. A bit of searching and reading here http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/search.php and on the Wiki http://www.knoppmythwiki.org/ should have turned it all up in short order.

Thanks for the reply - this is driving me insane. I expected there to be problems to overcome when setting this up, but I am not even at the setup stage yet and I am stuck.

Thanks for the tip regarding lilo - I'll bear that in mind, and when I have this sorted come back to fixing that - for now I can live with just pressing 0.

I have now done the following: chmod'd the XF86Config file, and ammended its monitor info. I am using a crappy old monitor which I found some info for here: http://linuxreviews.org/howtos/xfree/monitor/hansol/

With these settings I am getting exactly the same results. I remember having an issue when installing Ubuntu on horiz and vert so can I just track down that monitor section and reproduce it here? Nothing I have done so far is achieving anything but a screen of wavey lines. Actually that is not strictly true - now I have a couple of vertical blocks of colour. Oh GDM will I ever see you.....

Thanks for all your help

john

Right well I am at a loss now. I am going to step back from the keyboard for a bit. If no one has any advice, then I am going to try another distro. That'll be a shame because I was really excited about the hw compatability of video cards, and it was so close to the dream one click install. I guess I'll try FC4 if no one can help me get through this.

Hi,
I get the impression that this is the first reboot after the install. Most of the time these issues are related to something stuffed into the usb or a potentially bad burn. A download and a slow reburn (R5A16 of course) should help you get started.

Once you get it going, there is no turning back You will be hooked.

Any further troubles though, give a list of hardware. Make's it easier for the folks here to help you
Mike

yes you can just make the horz/vert refresh match that from the ubutnu (given that its the same monitor of course) and why did you chmod XF86Config-4 that should not be neccesary, however you will need to edit it as root.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

Hi pompeyjohn,

Please tell us a little more on the hardware, and also just at what point do the the lines become "wavy"? When you first went for install, did you enter "tv" (800x600)or just press enter (1024x768)? Does it go through the to post? then through the startup? Does the this wavy effect occur as it goes into the gui?

After seeing Xsecrets' response, it leaves me with questions.

Mike

Thanks all for the responses,

It first went "wavy" on the first reboot after install on gui bootup - which I just pressed enter to reach - so think was 1024x768. I am not too sure what manufacturer the mobo is, its not clear on the board, and the bios throws up no clues. I was all set to match my old ubuntu configs but before got to that stage found a post on here that led to me to check something else. I dug in through the pig of a bios this board has and managed to find the video pci/agp setting. I set this to exclusively PCI and the problem now seems to have dissapeared. If this is related I dont know for sure - but it sounds like it could be.

I feel like I am close now to getting this going - I can enter the setup pages, and my hardware is not that unusual so I am hoping it is only a matter of time now until I stumble in the right direction. Thanks for your advice and guidance, but particularly your encouragement - it is very much appreciated.

john

for ref here is my hw setup

mobo unknown
1.1 celeron
512 mb of pci 133
60 gb wd
aver media DVB-T 771 (am in the uk)
geforce mx4000

Hi pompeyjohn,

This is a link that Liv2cod made for the folks to use in helping find stuff that may help.

http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q ... as_qdr=all

Bookmark this handy tool! There are a lot of entries / questions and there is a very good chance yours may already be answered.

Hardware looks to be basic and should work, It won't do HD very well if that is a goal. There are a lot of other users from your side of the water that should be able offer much more specific help.

If you need to reduce your resolution to 800x600, that is a simple edit. If you are going to play with the xserver settings, it works best to do it from another machine by ssh connection.

Once you get started, I think you will be impressed with what Cecil, Dale and the many developers have put together for us.

Mike

Hello - thanks for the reply.



Bookmarked - and I am working through it now. Thank you.



Agree that the hd - is an issue. I also have another (external) 120 gb hd that I am happy to use in this box. The problem is that it currently has some music on. I have read the LVM is the way forward for integrating these two drives. So this is what I am currently looking into doing which I am guessing would mean setting up the hd using another partition tool, and then pointing myth setup to install in the right places.



Things like ssh were unknown to me until very recently. The learning curve here sometimes feels like a vertical line



I am already impressed! From what I have seen (which so far is only really the setup screens) I am blown away by the system.... and I really am keen to get involved and help others. I know little, but what little I know I am happy to build upon, and share with others. Perhaps a site where the user inputs their hw and then follows appropriate q&a's whilst installing would be of value.

Hi John,

As for HD, I meant HiDef, not a second drive. The 1.1 gig does regular analog fine (I use a pvr-350 on a 700mhz).

Start off simple, make it all work, rip a music cd, play it back, do the news, the weather, set up the included web browser, get a good understanding of where the menu items are and how they work. Look for ideas, problems with combinations.

After you have done any settings, do a backup! Then if you have to do a reload (read as auto / manual upgrade) you will have all those settings preserved and recalled / recallable!

There is also a wiki for the KnoppMyth support.

Mike

ok, on I crawl

I was having problems with the channel with video sources freezing at 50% then found out that it was a prompt in the terminal console holding things up. Answered a few questions, and now I have staggered a bit further forward.

Just seen the infamous black screen when clicking on watch TV. Using that awesome google link has thrown up loads of results for that so will work my way through them.

I have just checked the sound to see if that works - and wow you developers are geniuses - it sounds lovely. I sourced an ancient (first generation) DVD rom drive for this box and you should hear the sound it makes when ripping - it's hilarious.

You started off asking about topic A now you're going on to topic B. Please don't do this. Start a new thread or continue an exist thread with the same issue.

_________________
cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

oops - was just rambling - apologies

Hi John,

Glad to hear things are perking up for you. It is a rock solid system even if it is classified as "alpha" . There are ways you can break it however, with a careful eye you can avoid most problems.

If you would like to do this or that, do the home work first for side effects. The only thing I still need to add is printing, working on it though Currently I have my KnoppMyth machine busy, it is a 1.3 ghz e-machine (nothing fancy) with a pvr-350 card. I do thunderbird, mozilla, openoffice, freemind, saytime, record web streams of a couple radio shows, record / play some tv shows record composite (weather camera) and just general stuff. Mean while in the back ground while it is receiving files from a windows box and ftping them to the web every six hours. I usually am playing music or listening to the radio recordings. My son has an interest in the weather. So far, not a glitch!

I have done Slackware, RedHat, Mandrake, Whitebox, Caldera and this marriage of Knoppix & Mythtv that Cecil & Dale put together I enjoy the most. The Debian that resides under the hood, is a very good engine. By the way, I am still learning and usually the hard way.

I am not a developer, just a pee-on however, having been down some of the paths, just trying to help others from the same pot holes in the road. If you find someone with knowledgable suggestions, Xsecrets, tjc, liv2cod and many others, you can search just their material by selecting their name in the author or last post and click on find all their "stuff" A general way of filtering a little. When cesman leaves a post, always best to head his words of wisdom

Best of luck!
Mike